Copy
Subscribe · Advertise · Archive · FR
Issue 4 | Thursday, March 22, 2018

Connecting the dots across
13 education systems

EVOLVING STORY

B.C. school districts take teacher shortage crisis
into their own hands

The B.C. Ministry of Education has been investing $571,000 to offset teacher shortages for in-demand subject areas, following a Minister’s task force report that revealed that 54 B.C. school boards have been experiencing teacher, librarian, educational assistant, and counsellor retention challenges. Glen Hansman, President of the B.C. Teachers Federation (BCTF), said that the shortage has led to teachers without proper certification being hired, and to qualified Vancouver-based teachers leaving to fill positions in rural communities due to financial incentives put in place by the former Liberal government. The shortage comes after a 2016 Supreme Court decision, which affirmed the right of the BCTF to negotiate class size and composition. Burnaby School District has also launched its own training program for education assistants: in-demand professionals that are being hired faster than post-secondary institutions can produce them, according to this district. The North Okanagan-Shuswap School District had also reported hiring non-certified individuals in view of the shortage. In a recent CBC article, a number of current teaching assistants claimed that working conditions – and not lack of training – is the real reason for this crisis. At the BCTF national convention this week, president Hansman stated that union members want a wage hike, citing teachers in other provinces as making upwards of $20,000 more than those in B.C.

#bcedchat #BCTF2018 #bced

RELATED STORY

French Immersion Teacher Shortage and the Ongoing Debate About this Program’s Efficacy

Back in February, B.C. boards, and in particular the Vancouver School Board, had targeted Montreal and other parts of the country to recruit French immersion teachers. A shortage of French immersion teachers, in particular, is a phenomenon felt across the country. Educator-writer Andrew Campbell, in an editorial published last week in the Toronto Star, questions the high demand for French immersion programs amid a significant number of students abandoning the program early-on and finishing school with low proficiency in the language. This editorial is a response to a previous opinion piece published by Irvin Studin weeks earlier, which makes a case in support of French immersion programs.  

#FSL @acampbell99 @i21CQ

Did someone forward you this email?

Get up-to-speed on what's making news in Canadian education in 5 minutes.

Sign me up

EN DÉVELOPPEMENT

La pénurie d’enseignants se calme au Québec selon le ministre

Le ministre de l’Éducation, Sébastien Proulx, a affirmé récemment que plusieurs mesures ont été adoptées afin d’embaucher jusqu’à 8 000 enseignants et professionnels de l’éducation, ainsi que d’améliorer l’attractivité et les conditions de travail de la profession en soi, d’ici les cinq prochaines années, et ce, à la suite de sa Politique de réussite éducative et la Stratégie 0-8 ans. La Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CAQ) critique en revanche ces propos en se référant d’abord au nombre toujours insuffisant d’orthophonistes et de psychoéducateurs. Dans un blogue paru dans le Journal de Montréal, Léo Paul Lauzon met également en question le discours de monsieur Proulx, en se demandant comment il se peut que les enseignants soient attirés à s’intégrer à un système sous-financé et à une profession sous-payée. L’Association des doyens en éducation du Québec (ADEREQ) a de plus exprimé son souhait de convenir d’une rencontre avec le ministre, en vue des statistiques indiquant une tendance à la hausse de l’inscription des élèves au primaire jusqu’en 2028, et afin de revoir l’accompagnement en début de carrière. À l’échelle pancanadienne en milieu francophone minoritaire, la problématique de la pénurie d’enseignants est également présente, d’où le lancement d’un projet de recherche de la part de la Fédération canadienne des enseignantes et des enseignants (FCE), l’Université d’Ottawa et l’Association canadienne de langue française (ACELF).

#Proulx #PLQ #PolQC

Développer l'engagement professionnel des enseignantes du primaire

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Recent initiatives are reinforcing Indigenous student identity and pride across Canada

Two N.W.T. youth go national with campaign against Indigenous youth suicide

Kelvin and Tunchai Redvers are a brother-sister duo from the Northwest Territories spearheading a nation-wide social media and multimedia campaign called ‘We Matter’: an initiative that gathers video messages of hope from Indigenous youth and prominent Indigenous role models who have considered suicide or experienced it within their families or communities. In an interview for CBC Radio, the Redvers siblings explain the importance of highlighting stories of resilience and strength to counteract media negativity surrounding Indigenous peoples and connect youth with positive role models. This past January, the campaign partnered with Facebook to host the first national forum dedicated to Indigenous youth who have experienced suicide first-hand.  

Brutally honest music video by Indigenous youth highlights on-reserve challenges

N'we Jinan is a Quebec-rooted initiative travelling across Canada on a mission to empower Indigenous youth through musical performance and audio-video production, while addressing issues of identity and self-worth. Most recently, N’we Jinan collaborated with youth from Kawacatoose First Nation in Saskatchewan to produce the “Many Paths” music video. N’we Jinan Executive Director David Hodges had also led the Cree School Board’s Mikw Chiyâm Arts Concentration Program, which partners students with professional working artists.


Indigenous identity and racism subject of classroom discussions in wake of not-guilty verdicts

At the University of Winnipeg Collegiate private high school, a teacher has launched an “ask me anything Indigenous” initiative, allowing her students to engage in frank discussions surrounding racism, stereotypes, and misinformation surrounding Indigenous peoples, following the not-guilty verdicts in the deaths of Tina Fontaine and Colten Boushie.
Teaching the Tension Indigenous land rights education Canada

“We’ve seen that, in the western education system, we don’t always thrive”: Decades-long Indigenous learning program takes centre stage

The Globe and Mail has also featured Nova Scotia’s Allison M. Bernard Memorial High School for its land-based curriculum, offered in the Mi’kmaq language, and which has been in play for over three decades and is credited with spurring improved educational outcomes unseen on other First Nations reserves. At the post-secondary level, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University has launched a strategic process to embed Indigenous perspectives and content into its programs and practices: a consultation-first procedure without initially presumed goals and targets. Nova Scotia’s Acadia University has recently launched a similar strategy.

#Decolonization #Indigenize

Case Study on Land-Based Learning

P.E.I. to review standardized assessments in spite of having “made more significant progress than any other province in the country”

P.E.I. is gearing up for an external review of its standardized assessment program, now accounting for a total of seven provincial tests throughout a student’s K-12 schooling. Education Minister Jordan Brown has, however, pointed to improvements in mathematics and literacy, underlining evidence of provincial and PISA tests as contributors to improvements in student achievement. Critics of the Island’s common assessments program have been numerous, including principals citing lack of consultation, the Island’s teachers’ union raising the need for more resources to provide follow-up support for low performing students, and the critique that the exemption of underperforming students is skewing results.

#PEIpoli #PEIed

10th Anniversary of the EdCan
Pat Clifford Award 

Recognizing Canada's Emerging Education Researchers

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN

Sécurité sur Internet : le Nouveau-Brunswick présente son nouveau plan de lutte contre la cyberintimidation et le vol d’informations personnelles

Le gouvernement du Nouveau-Brunswick se prépare pour faire face aux défis liés à la sécurité sur Internet et vise à « être [un leader] dans ce secteur, pour la province du Nouveau-Brunswick et aussi au Canada et dans le monde », selon les propos du ministre de l’Éducation Brian Kenny. Outre l’objectif de mettre en œuvre un programme scolaire axé sur le développement des compétences en littératie numérique dès la maternelle, la province cherche d’autre part à former « les chefs de file de demain » dans le domaine, lequel s’inscrit également dans sa stratégie économique à long terme.

#NBpoli

Politiques en éducation aux médias numériques

Repenser la récréation : la surprotection de la part des parents, pourrait-elle avoir une incidence négative sur la santé des enfants?

Deux études récentes portent sur la sédentarité et l’obsession numérique des jeunes. La première a été menée dans une école à l’ouest de la région Montréalaise et suggère que devancer la récré avant l’heure de dîner, au lieu de la tenir après, encourage les élèves à manger moins et pourrait contribuer à combattre l’obésité. La seconde fournit un aperçu de divers terrains de jeu d’avant-garde, au Canada et ailleurs, visant à encourager les enfants à prendre des risques et de mettre fin au phénomène de « surprotection » des enfants.

#polmtl @projetmontreal

Post
Comment
Share

Looking for more?

Subscribe to get this every 2 weeks.

Sign me up
Share your news, research, and events with us.
Copyright © 2018 EdCan Network / Réseau ÉdCan, All rights reserved.


You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.